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Can Wild Bison Repopulate the Plains?

By Andrew C. Revkin March 4, 2010 7:28 amMarch 4, 2010 7:28 am

After three years of meetings and study, a broad array of conservation groups, government scientists and other experts on North American wildlife policy have produced a road map for restoring some large free-roaming populations of bison in the North American plains. The hurdles are many, with one of the biggest simply finding ways to acquire broad stretches of land that can accommodate the wandering species. Another is consolidating a maze of local, state and federal policies that treat the animals in different ways. Many Western states, for instance, classify bison as livestock and not wildlife, the report authors say, hampering how they can be managed in the wild. Here’s the full report on restoring bison. (The video above is courtesy of the Wildlife Conservation Society.)

In the United States, elbow room is the biggest challenge. As wild bison herds in Yellowstone National Park have expanded, they have spilled into nearby grazing lands for cattle, with more than 1,000 of the animals slaughtered in 2008 as a result. In a test of a new way to deal with the overflow, Ted Turner is hosting some Yellowstone bison on his ranch, under an agreement that would allow him to keep some of the progeny for his restaurant chains and meat business. Under the plan, according to USA Today:

After five years, Turner will return the 88 bison and 25 percent of their offspring. He will keep 75 percent of the offspring, projected to be 185 animals….

Shifting patterns of land use and human populations in the West could, for the first time, offer up a chance of “rewilding” some of that sprawling region. Obviously the result will never be what was once called wilderness. But great animal migrations and assemblages are a spectacular thing to witness. Can we, or should we, get comfortable with what amounts to an engineered “Eden”?

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By 2050 or so, the human population is expected to pass nine billion. Those billions will be seeking food, water and other resources on a planet where humans are already shaping climate and the web of life. Dot Earth was created by Andrew Revkin in October 2007 -- in part with support from a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship -- to explore ways to balance human needs and the planet's limits.